Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN 17B ⟷ THORAD AGENA D DEB
HighCross-border
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 19 min before the pass.
Closest approach7 Nov 202617:30 UTC
Relative speed7.86 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude866 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed7 Nov17:11 UTC · final forecast

CN YAOGAN 17B and US THORAD AGENA D DEB were predicted to reach a closest approach of 8.82 km at 2026-11-07 17:30 UTC, at a relative speed of 7.86 km/s. Final forecast, made 19 min before the pass. This is a cross-border encounter between objects of different nations. Miss distance and time of closest approach are computed by propagating the latest published orbital elements for both objects, and each pass is re-checked every 20 minutes as new element sets are published. See the Satellite Maneuver Tracker for the live picture and space situational awareness for context.

Why it mattersOne side of this pass cannot maneuver, so any avoidance decision rests with the other operator. Screening continues as new element sets arrive.

The Two Objects

Dossiers from the satellite directory
YAOGAN 17BPayload
NORAD 39240
CountryPRC
Launched2013-09-01
COSPAR2013-046B
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 42549
CountryUS
Launched1970-04-08
COSPAR1970-025TF
Maneuver capableNo
Uncontrolled debris fragment tracked by the public catalogue. About space debris →

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 866 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 866 km this pass sits inside the most congested band in low Earth orbit, home to the debris left by the 2007 ASAT test and the 2009 collision. Objects here stay up for decades: there is too little atmospheric drag to clean the band naturally. Why crowded bands matter →

History Between This Pair

1 predicted pass under 10 km
Pair history · YAOGAN 17B ⟷ THORAD AGENA D DEB
2026-11-07 17:308.82 km Final forecast7.86 km/s866 kmShown above

Repeat encounters are common for objects in near-intersecting orbital planes. Each pass is re-screened as fresh element sets arrive; "Final forecast" means the screening still predicted it within 45 minutes of its time, "Not re-confirmed" means later screening stopped finding it.

Forecast Record

Every figure published for the pass shown above, newest first. Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.
Computed · figure · predicted time · orbit data · by
7 Nov 12:51 UTC8.82 km Forecast7 Nov 17:30 UTC7 Nov 08:17 UTCRe-check
7 Nov 09:18 UTC9.01 km Forecast7 Nov 17:30 UTC6 Nov 23:22 UTCRe-check
6 Nov 22:14 UTC9.33 km Forecast7 Nov 17:30 UTC6 Nov 14:27 UTCRe-check
6 Nov 21:13 UTC5.92 km Forecast7 Nov 17:30 UTC5 Nov 22:24 UTCRe-check
6 Nov 20:54 UTC8.01 km Forecast7 Nov 17:30 UTC5 Nov 22:24 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
2.81 km11-09 22:19 UTC
YAOGAN 17BCZ-4C DEB
4.07 km11-12 08:22 UTC
YAOGAN 17BDELTA 1 DEB
8.76 km11-09 03:40 UTC
YAOGAN 17BONEWEB-0593

How These Numbers Are Computed

Miss distance and TCA come from propagating the latest published orbital elements for both objects and searching for the minimum separation over the screening window. Element sets carry kilometre-scale uncertainty, so figures here describe a close pass, not a collision prediction; a change in either object's published elements re-computes the pass automatically. What is a conjunction? → How conjunction assessment works →